George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron (1788-1824) poet

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand

The poet Lord Byron is seen here with short, curly hair and classical robes in this marble bust, supported by a round socle or plinth.

Sculptor Edward Hodges Baily exhibited the original version of this posthumous bust of Byron at the Royal Academy, London, in 1826. That work may be the version, dated 1826, which was presented to Harrow School (where Byron was a pupil from 1801 to 1805) in 1863 by politician Arthur Hill-Trevor, third Viscount Dungannon (1798-1862). Baily also exhibited two busts of Byron at the Royal Society of British Artists, London, in 1827.

Sculptor, designer and silver modeller Edward Hodges Baily was born in Bristol; the son of a ship’s carver. He left school at 14 and worked at a counting house. After meeting a modeller in wax, he entered the studio of John Flaxman. He enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools, aged 20, and was elected a full academician (1821) and fellow of the Royal Society (1842). He became chief designer for silversmith Paul Storr and chief modeller for goldsmiths Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, after Flaxman’s death. However, he is best-known for sculptures, including the figure of Nelson which surmounts W. Railton’s memorial column in Trafalgar Square. Despite his successes, he was bankrupt in 1831 and 1838. He died in poverty in Holloway, London, aged 79.

People

George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron Byron (1788 - 1824)

Places

Subjects

poet, travel & tourism, male portrait, man, Baron

Materials & Techniques

marble, bust (as object name), marble bust

Artist

Edward Hodges Baily (1788 - 1867)

Title

George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron (1788-1824) poet

Date

c1810-1830

Medium

Marble bust

Dimensions

height: 53.50 cm

Acquisition

Origin uncertain

Inscription

no inscriptions

Provenance

Located in British Embassy, Athens, from November 1981

GAC number

15267